Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Gracie!” she yells my name, running toward me.
“Friends of yours?” Pops asks.
“Oh, someone has some explaining to do,” Charlie says, and all I can do is look over and glare at him.
“Gracie!” Meadow calls my name again as she gets closer to me. “Is that your horse?” she asks me, her hair in a ponytail going side to side.
“Hi,” I say when she stops in front of me, ignoring the way my heart races. “This is Dixie Pixie,” I tell her, and then I look up to see Nash and Caine approaching. My body comes alive as if it knows he’s right there. All I can do is watch Caine, his eyes on mine, never leaving mine. Nash is telling him something, but all he can do is look at me.
“Can I ride her?” Meadow asks, and I blink, looking away from her father.
“Um,” I start to say to her, all the words suddenly stuck in my throat as I feel him in front of me.
“Hi,” Nash starts to talk, but Caine interrupts him, as usual.
“I’m Caine.” He sticks his hand out to my father, who takes it, not sure what is going on. Then he goes to my grandfather, who has his hands on his hips.
“I know who you are,” Pops says to him. “Question is, why are you here?”
“I’m here to see Grace,” Caine states, looking at me, and I have to look away from him when the tears threaten to come.
“Hi, Dixie,” Meadow says, coming to my side, slipping her small hand into mine. Little does she know that she is in the middle of a standoff. “Can I touch her?” Then she looks over at Charlie. “Are you a cowboy?”
“No,” I answer at the same time he says, “Sure am.”
“So how do y’all know Grace?” Charlie looks at the guys.
“She works with us,” Nash replies.
“Used to,” my grandfather quickly chimes in, making my head snap toward him. He eyes Caine, who doesn’t even notice he’s in Pops’ death glare.
I have to stop this before it gets out of hand. “Meadow.” I look down at her. “This is my dad, Quinn.” I point at my father. “He’s the best cowboy I know.” I side eye my grandfather, who still stares at Caine with his arms crossed over his chest. “I bet if you ask him, he could take you for a ride.”
“Really?” Her voice goes high as she looks over at my father, who just smiles at her. “Can you take me on the horse?”
My father looks at me, then looks down at Meadow, then back to me, hoping he can sense the need to defuse the situation. “It would be my honor.” He holds out his hand for her. “But first, we have to get you a helmet,” he tells her. “See that man here?” He points at my grandfather. “He can help you do that, can’t you, Dad?” he calls to my grandfather, who finally looks at him. “Can you take Meadow to get a helmet?”
Meadow lets go of my hand and walks over to my grandfather and puts her hand in his. “I like horses,” she tells him in a soft sweet voice that not even he can resist.
“I have a special horse for you.” He looks at my father before the three of them start to walk away.
“Be careful,” I tell them, and they both look over their shoulders at me and then share a look with each other. Fine, I’m protective of her, whatever. Just because her father is a jerkface doesn’t mean she should pay for it. Pops lets go of Meadow’s hand for a second before he walks over to Caine. Everyone goes on alert as he leans in and whispers something in his ear. No one but Caine can hear it, and all he does is nod his head at Pops before he goes back to Meadow.
“I guess you’re stuck with me.” Charlie looks at Nash. “Come on, I’ll get you a beer.”
“It’s nine o’clock in the morning,” I gasp, and Charlie just shrugs.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Nash adds, slapping Caine on the shoulder. “Don’t say anything you’ll regret,” he mumbles, and I want to laugh because all Caine knows how to do is say things he’s going to regret.
I wait for the two of them to walk away before looking back at Caine, my chest stinging from not being able to go to him. I put my hands together, afraid I’ll lean forward to touch him. “I don’t know why you are here,” I say, trying to get this over with as fast as possible. “There is absolutely nothing you have to say that I want to hear.” I shake my head, fighting back the tears. “You can wait here for Meadow.” Turning, I run away from him.
thirty-two
Caine
My eyes never leave her during this whole showdown. All the words are stuck in my throat, but the only words that want to come out are I love you and I’ve missed you. However, I don’t think having this confrontation in front of her father, grandfather, and brother is something she wants. I don’t know what, if anything, she’s told them about me. “I don’t know why you are here.” But her standing here in front of me, blinking away the tears, it breaks my heart that I’m the one making her cry. “There is absolutely nothing you have to say that I want to hear.” She shakes her head and looks down. “You can wait here for Meadow.” Turning, she storms away from me.